Control Actuation System Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

America is critically deficient in production of defensive munitions- we currently produce shipborne interceptors in the few hundreds per year while our adversaries are producing offensive threats in the tens of thousands per year. Furientis was started to help solve this problem- introducing a new class of cost-effective, high production rate, interceptor missiles. We're seeking motivated individuals who internalize this problem and are eager to apply their past experience in similar industries (aerospace, defense, automotive/racing, robotics) and out of the box thinking to solve this problem for the US and its allies.

About the Team

Vehicle Engineering owns the missile as a physical object from design through flight: structures, mechanical integration of the full subsystem stack, and the build.

About the Role

You will own the fin control actuation system: motor sizing, gear train, mechanical design, servo control law, dyno characterization, hardware-in-the-loop integration, and environmental qualification. Drive electronics are designed by Avionics and embedded firmware by Avionics software, both to your spec; you close the loop with them on the bench. Hands-on from clean-sheet design through ground test and flight. For someone who has taken a tactical-class actuator from sizing through hardware-in-the-loop and flight, ideally on a missile, munition, or guided projectile.

What You'll Do

• Own the fin actuation system across the F-series airframe: motor, gear train, output shaft, position sensor, and the servo control law that ties them together.
• Size the motor and gear train against aero hinge moments, slew rate, and stall torque across the Mach envelope. Defend bandwidth and authority against autopilot requirements.
• Spec the actuator drive electronics with Avionics: power stage, current sensing, position interface, and motor-bus partitioning.
• Spec the embedded servo firmware with Avionics software: current loop, position loop, command interface, and fault handling. Review the implementation and tune from the bench.
• Stand up the actuator dyno from zero: load fixture, instrumentation, automated test sequences, and frequency-response and step-response characterization.
• Run hardware-in-the-loop with the flight computer and GNC autopilot. Close the loop against the plant model and the integrated airframe.
• Own environmental qualification of the actuator stack: shock, vibration, temperature, humidity, and EMI.
• Take the subsystem from prototype through and flight, including post-flight teardown and data review.
• Make the cost call on every gear set, magnet, sensor, and connector. Pick the simplest part that meets the requirement.

Skills We're Hiring For

• B.S. in Mechanical, Electrical, Aerospace, or Mechatronics Engineering. M.S. preferred.
• 7+ years owning electromechanical actuators from sizing through bench validation and integration, with at least one actuator taken through hardware-in-the-loop or flight.
• Hands-on mechanical design of compact actuators: motor selection, gear trains, output shafts, bearings, and packaging under aero and shock load.
• Fluency with brushless motor characteristics end-to-end: PMSM and BLDC, commutation, current control, and sensored or sensorless schemes.
• Servo-loop fluency: frequency response, bandwidth, phase margin, anti-windup, friction and backlash compensation. Can tune a real actuator, not only simulate one.
• Working fluency with motor-drive electronics and embedded servo firmware sufficient to spec requirements to Avionics and partner on tuning at the bench.
• MATLAB/Simulink or Python for plant modeling and controller design.
• Hands-on bench discipline: dyno setup, frequency-response characterization, fault injection, and environmental testing.

Bonus Points For

• Direct flight experience on a tactical missile, munition, interceptor, or guided projectile control actuation system.
• Hands-on experience writing motor-control firmware or designing motor drive boards. Useful for tuning the loop across the interface with Avionics.
• High-shock and high-vibration actuator qualification: launch loads, gun-launched munitions, or hard-impact events.
• Hinge-moment characterization or actuator-load modeling alongside an aerodynamicist.
• Production transition: moved an actuator from prototype to volume manufacturing, including factory acceptance test flow.
• Vendor management across the motor, magnet, gearing, sensor, and connector supply chain.
• Familiarity with insensitive munitions and tactical-missile qualification environments.
• Hobbyist drone, robotics, motorsport, or model-rocketry build and flight experience that translates to packaging and field-handling intuition.

Eligibility & Logistics Location: On-site at our Los Angeles, CA HQ; remote work is not available. Monthly weekend travel for test events and supplier engagements. Clearance: A clearance is not required for this position. Must be a U.S. Person.

Equal Opportunity & Export Compliance Furientis is an equal-opportunity employer. To comply with U.S. export control laws, employment is contingent on eligibility to access export-controlled information.

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